


A Drive in the Fall

by serendipityxxi



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Autumn, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-01
Updated: 2012-11-01
Packaged: 2017-11-17 13:03:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipityxxi/pseuds/serendipityxxi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Booth & Brennan argue pumpkins</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Drive in the Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Disclaimed

Signs that summer was over had been piling up like fallen leaves over the last few weeks. The nights had grown cooler, the days shorter, bus loads of shrieking children on field trips to the Jeffersonian had grown more plentiful, the chorus of crickets outside the Mighty Hut had grown quieter and quieter. Today the air was crisp like a bite into a fresh apple and the sky was that particularly bright shade of blue you only found in the fall. Outside the windows of the SUV the scenery flew past in reds and oranges. Inside the SUV the hum of the engine provided a comfortable backdrop to the usual gentle squabbling that accompanied Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan.

“Carving pumpkins is a prime example of the wastefulness of North American culture, Booth,” Brennan argued.

“Not true, Bones,” Booth returned the volley. He glanced over at Brennan and then back to the road. “We can use these babies to make pumpkin pie and baked pumpkin seeds...” he paused here, clearly at a loss as to what else they could make out of pumpkin guts but also clearly unwilling to give up.

Brennan arched an eyebrow, waiting.

“Pumpkin bread!” Booth announced triumphantly.

He grinned at Brennan who couldn’t help but smile back. This bickering in the car felt nice, it felt like _them_ , the way they had been. Of course there were differences; Christine was in the backseat and they were driving to a pumpkin patch not a crime scene, and those changes made a world of difference, but the old ease, that was there too. They felt like things might finally be getting back to normal.

“Pumpkin pancakes, too,” she added shyly.

Booth nodded. “Pumpkin puree,” he glanced in the rear view mirror at their daughter in her car seat and made a face thinking of orange diapers he’d have to change.

“I’m sure Christine would enjoy that,” Brennan laughed, delighted she was able to catch onto his train of thought from his expression.

“She’s going to love Halloween. I really want to make her first Halloween special,” Booth said earnestly, making the turn off the highway.

Brennan nodded and she restrained herself from pointing out that Halloween was a largely pagan holiday that was frowned upon by Booth’s Catholic Church. For once she knew it wasn't really about Halloween, that Booth was thinking of all the other firsts he hadn't had a chance to make special over that seemingly endless summer.

“Recently, I also discovered a recipe for pumpkin chipotle soup,” she said instead.

Booth made an even less pleased face and Brennan chuckled.

“You liked the quinoa,” she pointed out.

Booth brought the SUV to a stop the parking lot of the pumpkin patch and glanced over at his partner. She was giving him that look that said she felt she was right and could argue her point until there were no pumpkins left in the patch. The fall colours surrounding them made her eyes seem even brighter than usual. Her mouth pursed to continue arguing when he leaned over and stole a kiss, gentle and grateful from her lips.

“It’s good to have you home, Bones,” he breathed against her mouth when they parted.

“It’s good to be home,” she murmured, fingers stroking through the fine hairs on the back of his neck. They stayed like that for a long moment, their foreheads resting together, their breath mingling in between. 

In the backseat Christine contentedly tried to fit one of her socked feet into her mouth.

Finally Booth pulled back and removed the keys from the ignition.

“So, eight pumpkins, at least,” he announced, coming back around to his original argument.

“Four,” Brennan countered.

They shut their doors and Booth disengaged Christine’s safety seat with practiced ease while Brennan walked around the car to join them. Brennan admired the way his shoulders moved under the olive green jacket he wore, pleased to see he was regaining some of the weight he'd lost during the stressful summer. They fell into step with each other on the rutted path without any effort, just knowing where the other was subconsciously, the way they usually moved together. Brennan smiled, inhaling the cool October air. Spontaneously she reached out and tangled her fingers with Booth's free hand. He gave hers a warm squeeze in return and that grin that she thought he only gave when he was really content. Brennan smiled too, truly glad the summer was over.


End file.
